In Part 1 of this series (let’s call it “Can we just start putting plans into action, please?” for short), I introduced one facet of the vision of Geneva expressed by residents through the comprehensive plan — a “prosperous” community.

Here, in Part 2, I want to build on the goal of “prosperous” but add another of the comprehensive plan’s guiding principles: “connected.”

Last year, the outgoing City Council gave its support to the City Manager’s proposal for a community engagement position. That is good and important work. It is work suggested in the housing plan. It is work that got started through the Office of Neighborhood Initiatives (before it was watered down and then sacrificed to budget cuts). Many times the City can’t bear the short-term sacrifices required for long-term success. (That’s one of the principal observations that these plans have tried to overcome.)

The lack of long-term vision is most clear when people talk about development. In response to the steady drumbeat of criticism that “taxes are too high” and “something must be done,” elected officials have two options: They can get nose-to-the-grindstone intentional about solutions, or they can allow the city to be taken advantage of by any shiny object a developer........

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